Favorite Baby Care Products

The market for baby shampoo is insane. Before having a kid, I thought that there was one type of baby shampoo. You know the traditional Johnson & Johnson yellow bottle? If you’re anything like me, you figure out what works best through trial and error. I have to be somewhat careful with the types of products I use. Because Ellie was lucky enough to inherit .5% of my genes (look at her, she is 99.5% her dad), she has a touch of eczema. Certain products can aggravate her eczema which is a pain in the butt to stay on top of.

Through my trial and error as well as recommendations from family/friends, here is a list of baby care products I am loving right now. Love to hear if you have anything else you are slathering on your little minion(s)!

~Karen

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Screen time? Yep.

We all start off motherhood with the same idea – my perfect baby will never see a screen until at least 2 (or something like that). They will be content all the time to play with only wooden toys which inspire independent, imaginative play.

Ha.

Fostering Learning Through Chores

I can be a bit of a perfectionist. Well, not just a bit… at times it takes over my life (especially when my parents are due at my house in an hour). There, I said it. Zach probably just gasped, not out of surprise that I am a perfectionist… more-so because I ACTUALLY owned up to it. My Type A plays out in many ways, both at home and at work. At home, I like things to be in order, neat, and spotless which is laughable when you have a toddler and two big dogs. The bathroom and kitchen are my most anxiety-inducing areas that are never clean enough. My perfectionism paired with a curious toddler can lead to entire days just following her around. As Ellie started walking/doing somersaults, I quickly learned that I need to work alongside her rather than chasing after her with a rag in hand. Picking up and cleaning not only plays into her natural curiosity, it also helps me feel productive in keeping my life moderately organized. Here are some of the little things that Zach and I do to foster learning and responsibility through housework with Ellie.

Oh wait, I used to have hobbies.

Hi, internet. It’s Kristin. It’s been a long holiday season, but I finally have my shit together enough to write again. I’ve been thinking a lot about new year’s resolutions since everyone is sharing theirs all over online. Now, I stopped doing “official” resolutions a long time ago because frankly, who can honestly say they’ve kept theirs? But this year I realized that I do need to set a few goals for myself for nothing but to keep myself sane. As a new(ish) parent it’s so easy to have your whole self sucked into your kid’s world 24/7 and let everything else fade away. For me, that means that things I used to really enjoy doing during my downtime have been seriously neglected. Yep, I used to have hobbies. Now my “hobby” is screen time after Finn goes to bed to try to help me unwind after my day. So…here are my 2019 goals for myself:

Toddler Mealtime Escapades

Is your kid a decent eater who will eat literally anything you put in front of them or do you have the kid who will only eat chicken nuggets, but only that one specific brand from a co-op four states away? We all know that feeding your toddler can be rough, especially because their palate can change like the wind. One day they LOVE apples and can’t get enough of them, the next day apples are being thrown across the room (thank goodness for my built in floor cleaners, AKA the dogs). The minute I find something Ellie loves and pretty much buy stock in that company, the next thing I know she is turning her nose up at it. Well, EXCUSE ME, Queen of England! For this post, I thought I’d list out a few of my go-to meals and snacks. As I have mentioned many times, my bar is set really low. I don’t typically get home on time to be like Julia Child in the kitchen… and let’s be real, even if I did, I still wouldn’t put the time into cooking.

Let’s Talk About Size Baby

Hi! It’s me, Karen. It’s been awhile. My apologies for ghosting you. I am sure you have been missing my parenting insights (and flops). Well, I am back. If you celebrate, my hope is that you had a wonderful holiday season. After talking to my sister-in-law for a while the other day on clothing sizes for our toddlers (her little gal is just a couple months older than Ellie), I thought a little rant about baby and toddler clothing would be prudent as you sort through the clothes your kid(s) received as gifts.

Being a Mom During the Holidays

I love the holidays. I have always loved the holidays. I love decorating. I love thinking of just the right gift for every person on my list. I love Thanksgiving. I love to cook and to try out new recipes and to be in the kitchen with my favorite people in the world. The list could go on and on. My love for this time of year has not changed since becoming a parent, it may have even grown now that I have a little one I get to incorporate into all of these wonderful family traditions. What has changed though is the increased amount of pressure I feel to make the holidays perfect for those around me. While I know I don’t need to be making 13 different kinds of cookies each year, 6 would suffice, I just can’t seem to let some things go (but I need to). That being said, I am committing to do some things that decrease the pressure I have felt in recent years, while at the same time keeping the holiday cheer ever so present in my life.

Our Favorite Books (right now)

Both Karen and I are pretty avid readers, so it’s natural that we want our kids to be too! The best way to do that? Give them access to lots of books! Here are a few of our favorites right now (Don’t see yours here? Let us know what they are!)

Finn’s (and Kristin’s) Favorites

The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats

Finn has been reading this book for months and months and still isn’t sick of it. It follows a little boy as he explores the freshly fallen snow in his city neighborhood.

Because I’m Your Dad by Ahmet Zappa

This is the book I got Kris for Father’s Day. It’s so sweet – it features a monster dad and kid (not gender-specific), with the dad telling their child all the things they’ll do “because I’m your dad”. Highlights include always having cool Halloween costumes and skipping school so they can get a hot dog in New York City.

Stella Brings the Family by Miriam B. Schiffer

A story about a little girl who has to figure out what to do when she is supposed to do when she is told to bring her mom in for Mother’s Day – but she only has two dads at home!

If You Give A Mouse A Cookie by Laura Joffe Numeroff

The classic story I grew up reading featuring a mischevious (and helpful! He cleans!) mouse who will ask you for everything and anything after giving him a cookie for a snack.

Dragons Love Tacos by Adam Rubin

Did you know dragons LOVE tacos but HATE spicy salsa? What happens when you give them tacos with salsa? Let’s find out!

Poke-A-Dot Books by ikids

This series of books is brilliant for little ones who have busy hands. They feature plastic “dots” that they can poke to make a clicking noise on every page!

Elliot’s (and Karen’s) Favorites

Barnyard Dance by Sandra Boynton

In our household, you really cannot go wrong with any Sandra Boynton book. The rhyming is so stinkin’ catching (yes, I often am rehearsing them in my head while at work)! I once had a speech pathologist tell me that these books were some of their top picks. Barnyard Dance has been one of our favorites since Ellie was tiny. Sometimes I even give it a “hoe-down” spin.

Ladybug Girl Gives Thanks by David Soman & Jacky Davis

Again, this entire series is a household favorite. Lulu is this awesome little girl whose superhero alter-ego is the star of this series. I chose this specific book as we have a few seasonal books we throw into the nightly mix. With Thankgiving upon us, we read this one every night.

Ten Little Ladybugs by Melanie Gerth

This is much like most other counting books but the ladybugs are these cute little raised bugs on each page. Ellie loves to help turn the pages and feel the little ladybugs. At the end of the book she likes to point out all the animals for me to tell her what each of them are. As a note, Ellie likes this one so much she stands on it… the binding is starting to go. I just consider it well-loved.

First 100 Words by Roger Priddy

The combination of bright colors and simple pictures are really eye catching for Ellie. She loves to point out the various images and try to repeat the words after I say them to her. While there is not necessarily a story throughout this book per se, this is a great learning tool for any kid in the early stages of language development (albeit, boring for mom or dad).

Never Touch a Spider! by Make Believe Ideas Ltd.

Spoiler alert – your kid will touch the spider. This books are top notch in the sensory books department. Each page has a fun design molded into it and Ellie loves to flip through and feel the funky designs. The story is really cute and gives a fun spin to bugs.

Happy Birthday, Finn!

This is a few weeks late, but here goes…

Well, it’s finally happened. Finn is 1. It’s been the longest and shortest year of my life, full of some of the best moments and tons of challenges. We fought together through struggling with breastfeeding for the first few months, and came out the other side to make it to a full year! Finn is the funniest and most curious baby (toddler??) and loves to read books just like his mom. He’s also gained a ton of confidence and is walking all the time now!

It’s also been incredible to experience this journey with Kris as my partner. He is the best dad to Finn and it brings me so much joy to see them play and laugh together.

photo credit: fotofilm studios

I’m excited to see what the next year brings; if the last 12 months have been any indication it will be full of fun, laughter, learning, frustration, and love.

Love you, Finn!

Why is my hair falling out??

Real talk – did you know that gorgeous hair you had while pregnant comes with a price? After you have your baby, your body is like, “hahahaha, you thought you had nice hair?? JUST KIDDING!” And then your hair starts falling out.

I had heard about postpartum hair loss (which is caused by your hormones going back to normal levels), but I was 3 months in and I still didn’t have anything happening out of the ordinary, so I thought I was safe. I have been blessed with pretty nice, thick hair, so I wasn’t anticipating any weird hair stuff after having Finn. And then it happened. Around 4 months postpartum, my hair started falling out like crazy. As in, handfuls in the shower crazy. It’s disgusting and scary. I became convinced that I would look like I had a receding hairline or bald patches at the end of this whole thing. (This can happen, I guess, but most women won’t have hair loss to that extreme.)

This insane hair loss kept happening for weeks, but it did finally stop. However, how all that hair is regrowing at the same time, leading to a fun halo of fuzz around my hairline. Since I am lazy and wear my hair up a lot of the time, I’m pretty self-conscious about it, but as my stylist said, “at least that means it’s growing in!”

So load up on bobby pins and hairspray and brace yourself, the hair loss is coming…but you’ll survive it.

~Kristin